THE LAWLOR FAMILY

[This web-page was contributed by Geraldine Dunwoodie of Thames]

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HENRY CHARLES LAWLOR AND HIS WIFE ANNE CAROLINE NEE THOMAS

HENRY CHARLES LAWLOR (1814 - 1894)

Henry was born and baptised 19th December 1814 in Srirangapatna, Madras, India. His father was Captain Michael LAWLOR (8/10/1786 - 30/3/1824) who died in the service of the East India Company. The only information we have about his mother is that she may have been called Mary.

Henry became his father's heir when his father died in India when he was only five. His guardian was Mr Dickenson of Madras. Who was his mother? No mention is made of her. Was she a beebee?? At some stage Henry was sent back to Scotland and was in the care of a Dr. Lawrie. Henry later received a patrimony from India.

Henry met Anne THOMAS at a military friend's house, in Edinburgh, shortly after her mother's death. They shared a common interest. Both " ...... being orphan children of Indian Officers, caused us at once to be interested and drawn to one another with stronger feelings than that of mere visiting acquaintances. At last his indentures certified to his qualifications to the following out of his profession in whatever part of the world he might fancy to settle. .... " They could not marry until Henry ".... had completed his apprenticeship to the Law, of seven years, besides waiting for his majority to get his patrimony from his guardian. ...." They were engaged for three years. Henry married Anne Caroline Thomas at St. Mary's Church in Edinburgh on the 2nd day of August 1840. Henry was 25 years old and Anne was 22 years old.

ANNE CAROLINE LAWLOR

Anne's father was Captain David Thomas (1/9/1791 - 9/12/1825) of the Bengal Native Infantry and her mother was Elizabeth FOULIS (11/1796 - 25/3/1836). Anne was born in Cawnpore, Calcutta, India. Her father was in the East India Company's service. He died of English cholera, and was buried before his wife Elizabeth knew of his death. She was expecting a baby at the time and they were concerned it would affect her progress. She then left for England, an Officer's widow aged 27, with seven children. They lived in Edinburgh until Elizabeth died aged at the young age of 35. Her unmarried sister Ann then became guardian of the children. The children attended the best school, as Elizabeth had a good income.

Elizabeth herself had been born in interesting circumstances. Her father was Michael Foulis, who had gone to India, aged 15, in the East India Company's Service. In those early days, for about the first 100 years, white women were not allowed to accompany the men so the men were encouraged to form liaisons or marriages with Indian women. At one stage an allowance was paid for each child born. Elizabeth's mother was Jawn, an Indian beebee - she is mentioned in Michael's will. The children were usually sent back to Scotland to be educated, as happened in Elizabeth's case - did she ever see her Indian mother again? No mention is made of her.

Anne later left a wonderful account of their parentage, their married life together and the hardships they faced on first arriving in New Zealand. This letter begins: "I have often wished I had the talent of a ready writer that I might leave all our history, which had been such a long eventful one, to our children in an interesting form. Never-the-less, I shall attempt an abridged narrative of myself to please them. ...."

In this account, Anne said Henry did not enjoy Law, so they decided to journey to New Zealand "..... which was then exciting a great feeling of interest in the public mind, and newspapers. We resolved on coming by the first vessel out to this colony. We brought here three servants with us, agricultural and all sorts of tools, a house from Hobarttown and had purchased 303 acres of land from Boys Company Edinburgh for which we paid a pound an acre, it was promised to be ready, surveyed and fit for the choosing of the first comers arrival at the Manukau. ......"

"A free passage to NZ, an acre section in the model town of Cornwallis for one pound, a hundred acres in the smiling countryside nearby for £100 and a year's good wages guaranteed while settling in - for the poor of Scotland it was the chance of a lifetime. Those who responded to the advertisements of the New Zealand Manakau and Waitemata Co. could hardly believe their good fortune." ['Fire on the Clay' - Dick Scott]

On the 6th Nov. 1840 they left from Greenock, Scotland, on the 'Brilliant'. Henry conducted divine services on board on the way out. They had an excessively long and eventful trip - 10 months instead of the usual 3 months.

Anne gives an account of the trip. She talks about the passengers

" .... who had survived such a long sea voyage coming out to this country, ten months duration visiting so many places by the way on all sorts of frivolous pretences that it was most trying and provoking to many on board although a pleasure to those who caused it, seeing their plan was to drink and make merry on shore instead of at sea and leaving the vessel whilst coming down the English Channel entirely to the mercy of the wind and waves until we were nearly wrecked off Cardigan Bay, when the passengers took command of the vessel from the Captain and made the second mate take the vessel into the first Port, which was the Cove of Cork, where we got a new Captain and crew and left some of the passengers behind there, who had had enough of the 'Brilliant' and would come no further. The new Captain adopted the other course by pretending to be short of water, or something so after Cork he visited Sierra Leone, the Cape of Good Hope, Melbourne and Hobart Town. ...."

On the 11th July 1841 their daughter Anne Caroline was born at sea Long. 115 degrees, 2 mins. East, Lat. 38 degrees 48 mins. South.

"The passengers' ordeal was not over. The coast was sighted near Raglan, only 80 kilometres south of Manukau Heads, but it was two days before landfall was made. No doubt emboldened by the company prospectus which stated that 'Ships could enter this splendid harbour with perfect safety,' the captain, a pencil sketch his only chart, sailed up the wrong channel at the Manakau entrance. He finally groped his way in by lowering a boat and taking his own soundings." ['Fire on the Clay' - Dick Scott]

Rounding bleak Puponga Point, the tip of a peninsula hammered by waves rolling through the heads, and swept by every wind that blows, the Brilliant cast anchor off a narrow beach on the leeward side. For those bouyed up by visions of earthly paradise the truth was uncompromisingly brutal. Dense bush covered hills that seemed to rise vertically from the water, there were no provisions awaiting them, no shelter was on hand, there were no facilities of any kind. Of the model city of Cornwallis they had seen on paper with its Great and Little Queen Streets, its St. Andrew's and St. George's Squares .... There was no trace." ['Fire on the Clay' - Dick Scott]

Anne Caroline's account continues

"..... We bought a lifetime supply of clothes, and several years stock of provisions with us, but to our great disappointment on at length reaching Karangahape on the Manukau where we were to get our land we found it was not even commenced to be surveyed and in one month after our arrival the local agent for the company, poor Capt. Cornwallis was suddenly drowned with all the company's papers in his pocket. .... This dreadful accident filled all the newly arrived passengers from Home with horror and dismay and was never forgotten by those who witnessed the sight. ..... I remember my first exclamation was, on seeing from the deck, the top of our bell tents peeping above the underbush on shore and the hills all around the beach, "Dear Henry, is this all that we have come so far for and undergone so much", and from that date only, our real trouble began ..... " [Anne Caroline's account]

"So unattractive was the prospect of sleeping out in the flax and scrub that grew to the water's edge that the passengers refused to go ashore." ['Fire on the Clay' - Dick Scott]

"Next morning two canoes rounded crowded with Maoris approached from the far side of the harbour. ......... They had come to help. By the end of the day the Maoris had thatched 25 nikau whares to house the settlers and Maori generosity was to sustain the settlement for months ahead." ['Fire on the Clay' - Dick Scott]

Eventually Henry took shares in a sawmill at Cornwallis (Karangahake) which failed after 6 months and the Company went bankrupt. Henry and Anne moved back into their first cottage which they had built at Cornwallis. The family continued to live there for nine years during which time two more children were born. On 11th July 1846 their daughter Elizabeth Foulis was born at Karangahape, and on the 30th Aug. 1849 their son Henry Charles Thomas was also born there.

Henry and Anne experienced hardship for a variety of reasons including the loss of their land, investments failing, friends calling in a debt at a difficult time etc. so for nine years they ".... lived on in the Hobarttown cottage .... living on remittances of sums left at Home, quietly and doing what little good we could to those around us, during the time, the natives used to fetch their sick to be cured and nourished by us frequently. The missionaries invariably put up with us in travelling and many visitors came in Summer for hunting and oyster seeking and we quite enjoyed the privilege of meeting so many interesting and nice people from Town at that time. ....."

Henry felt he should apply to Governor Grey for an appointment. " .... His Excy. regretted that he knew of no vacancy worthy of his offer, and advised him to come and live at Onehunga on the other side of the Manukau so as to be no longer out of sight and thus out of mind. .... " Then on second thoughts his Excy. suggested that better than being unemployed would be filling the office of clerk to the bench until an appointment was vacant. Unfortunately Sir George moved south at this stage, and Anne says that " ... ever after subordinate appointments were thought good enough for dear papa. ....". The family duly moved to Onehunga where Henry was at once engaged in the services of the colony. He was appointed Justice of the Peace and Clerk of the Resident Magistrate's Court at Onehunga. On 16th July 1851 their daughter Laura Louise was born at Onehunga. Laura died later that year. On 28 Oct. 1852 their son George James was also born at Onehunga.

From about Feb.1853 the LAWLOR family were in Sth. Australia. There were FOULIS relatives living in Sydney and THOMAS relatives in Melbourne. Henry was desirous of getting a good job, so perhaps they thought there would be something for them in Australia. Their son Theodore Minet was born on the 4th October 1854 in Gippsland, Australia. Shipping records show that they returned to NZ in 1855.

On 6th December 1858 their daughter Mary Louisa was born at Onehunga. On 20th June 1861 Henry was licensed as lay reader in the Church of St Peter, Onehunga, by Bishop Selwyn, on the recommendation of the Rev. Arthur Guyon Purchas and others. He continued actively employed in this capacity until his death. At some stage an old Karangahape guest called and asked Henry how he would like to be Resident Magistrate of Coromandel, and that he would try and get him the appointment. In 1863 on the 15th Feb. their last child, a daughter, Flora Hastings, was born at Onehunga, and a week later on 23 February, Henry was appointed Warden and Resident Magistrate at Coromandel. ".... He got the appointment just after Flora's birth our ninth of a family and so we parted for three years as I had to send the children to school and on account of the war times. ....." [Anne Caroline's account]

Henry

"...... went to Coromandel and immediately set to work to organise a congregation and Sunday School, conducting Services in King's Saw Mill, Driving Creek, Upper Tiki in Tothill's Saw Mill, and Lower Tiki in Mr Douglas' residence for the convenience of the settlers there. He also put the machinery in motion to get a Schoolhouse built there by public subscription. ........ in this building, he conducted services which were commenced by Bishop Selwyn, and kept up regularly until 1879. ....." [Letter - G. J. Lawlor]

" ..... His sway with and management of the natives at Coromandel kept all at peace and quiet when many times bloodshed and war threatened the more, and in May last when the retrenchments of the government thought proper to do away with his appointment as magistrate at Coromandel, twice have the most influential natives all around the District petitioned to have Mr LAWLOR left there as their magistrate. ....... " [Anne Caroline's account]

In 1867 Henry came to the Thames as Warden, and resided there until his death.

" ....On Feb. 20th 1870 he organised a congregation at Tararu and has conducted services there ever since. In 1880 the good people of there built him a church and called it 'St. John's' which was opened by the late Rev. Lush on the 19th dec. 1880 that being father's birthday and as the Bishop could not attend on that date, the people were desirous that the church should be opened on his birthday. He also held services and Sunday School at Parawai for some years. On the 17th June 1870 at the special request of the late Rev. V. Lush he held services at the Thames Hospital and subsequently at the Old Man's Refuge keeping them up for many years. He has also assisted the incumbent of St. Georges's with the services by reading the lessons when requested to do so, taking a whole service occasionally and conducting funerals. ..." [Letter - G. J. Lawlor]

He was the Legal Manager for several mining companies, a Justice of the Peace, heard cases at the Resident Magistrate's Court, Thames, was an electoral officer, and was on the Waiotahi school board.

On the 2nd of August 1894 Anne died at home in Beach Road Thames, and Henry followed just a few months later on 4 Dec. 1894.

This letter to the newspaper, written after his death, tells of his involvement in his community:

THE LATE MR H.C. LAWLOR

Sir:- You are no doubt aware through the press the loss the churches of S. George and S. John have sustained through the death of Mr. H.C. LAWLOR, but none but themselves know the irreparable loss the sick and the afflicted of the Thames have sustained. Having been an invalid myself for nearly ten years, I can add my humble testimony to the kind visitation every week (regardless of weather and old age) of Mr. LAWLOR. He was always to be depended upon. No matter who disappointed a sick one of a visit, Mr. LAWLOR was always there, cheering with his genial and sympathetic nature the weary monotony of the sick chamber, reading from the good old Book, and always a word of prayer. He was Episcopalian heart and soul, yet visited regardless of creed or sect. The Hospital, the old men's Home also miss him. He may be said to have died in harness, as he was out visiting the sick and the public schools (of which he was a committee man), the day before his death. He is gone, and his place is not easily filled. We can say with one of old - upon whom is his mantle to fall? And this kind visitation has been carried on for four years, unrewarded except the approval of his own conscience. He loved the work for the Master's sake, and if ever one tried to obey the command and follow the example of Jesus who 'went about doing good', that one was Mr. LAWLOR. He is gone to hear the welcome, 'Well done, good and faithful servant,' from the Master he served so long and faithfully, and we can but mourn his loss and bear testimony to his virtues. Apologising for troubling you, I am yours Elizabeth Vine Karaka Creek, Thames.

ANNE CAROLINE AND HENRY CHARLES LAWLOR'S CHILDREN

1. ANNE CAROLINE (ANNIE) LAWLOR (11/7/1841 - 21/10/1905)

Annie was born on board the 'Brilliant' on her parent's long voyage out to New Zealand. Very little is known about Annie's life. She probably did not go to Thames when her mother took the family to join Henry in 1863. She would have been about 22 years old. She apparently married two years later in Taranaki on 20th October 1865, James Daniel Lee, born in Ireland. This marriage is listed on the birth certificate of a son born in 1869 in Blacktown, Australia. Family history says James was a soldier, but on this certificate he is a labourer. Family legend says that Annie Caroline apparently ran off with a soldier, James LEE. This is the only record found that they were married.

The story continues that they were then in Sydney. After Lee died Anne Caroline and Alice returned to New Zealand. There were three children. Her daughter Alice was born in Blenheim or Nelson c1867 - 68. One son is supposed to have drowned (in a "harbour" the little dog came back but not the boy) and one went to San Francisco and is believed to have died there in the earthquake. No records have been found of Annie's marriage, the birth of one of the sons, nor their deaths.

She returned from Australia and next appears in Lyttleton where she married again - Edward James Thompson. They had a daughter who died in infancy, and they adopted a baby girl.

Family history in this branch says that Annie was estranged from her family, and certainly she is not mentioned much in the many letters we have - but the other daughters who lived nearer didn't get mentioned a lot either. Later apparently the Lawlors wouldn't acknowledge daughter Alice or her children. However she is mentioned fondly in letters home from her brother Charlie who saw her in Blacktown Australia and in a letter written by her father, when she visited him af hey exchanged letters at about that time. She came up to see her father after her mother's death in 1894, and her father seems to have enjoyed this very much. Annie's daughter Alice had 17 children, so this is a large branch of the family. Annie died in Lyttleton on 21st October 1905.

ELIZABETH FOULIS (BESSIE) LAWLOR

1. Elizabeth Foulis (Bessie) Lawlor (8/7/1846 - 8/7/1922)

Bessie was born in Karangahape. She married in Thames in 1873 George Edward Thom, whose father had been a convict and then a mariner, trading from Australia with the Maori on the Kawhia coast - he eventually married one of them, [See Kautawhiti] and took her back to Australia.

George's father drowned at sea in 1848, and after his mother's death a couple of years later George was brought back to NZ.

Early in their married life George was the Post and Station Master at Taupiri flag station. One of his sons was born in 1884 at Waiorongomai near Te Aroha - perhaps he was there for mining as he certainly had mining interests later. By 1885 they were back in Thames.

In 1991 George travelled to Sth Africa where Bessie's brother Charlie was mining, but he returned in November 1892. He seems to have returned unwell and not to have worked again.

Bessie supported the family by giving piano lessons. They had six children, 2 of whom died young. Family letters say what a hard and miserable life she was leading. George died in 1896, and Bessie remarried in 1898 - her brother-in-law Cecil Kensington of Oropi, Tauranga. Her sister Elinor had earlier married Bridges Kensington and lived at Oropi where the Kensington brothers were early timber millers. This marriage lasted only a brief time, and Bessie was back in Thames within a couple of years.

It seems Bessie and some of the children lived in the Kawhia area for a while, where there was family land. There are still descendants in this area. Bessie eventually moved to Auckland where she died. This is another large branch of the family.

HENRY CHARLES THOMAS (CHARLIE) LAWLOR

1. Henry Charles Thomas (Charlie) Lawlor (30/8/1849 - 12/8/1923) Charlie was a very interesting member of the family. He was born in Karangahape. He was about 14 when the family moved to Thames in 1863, some two or three months after the field broke out. He and his younger brother George took out their first Miner's Rights in 1867 when Charlie was about 18 and George 15. It appears he worked on the Thames Goldfield until April 1874 when he was in Nevada, California looking at prospects there. ".... I give myself 5 years to get back to New Zealand, by which time I hope to have made my fortune. I advised Theo to stay home with the family for a few years and he won't lose by it if I can help it. ...."

By 1876 he seems to have been back in Thames where by 1881 he had become an amalgamator. In 1882 he had shares in a mine at Waiorongomai near Te Aroha. At the start of 1884 he and his brother George set off from there by horse to see the Pink and White Terraces. They were able to visit their sister Nell at Oropi on the way and on their return - probably a last trip together before Charlie set off on his travels again.

At about this time, Charlie and some friends had outfitted the 'Wild Duck' to use for trading in the islands, and to gather beche de mer which was in great demand in China. By May 1884 Charlie was sending letters from Moreton, Brisbane, Cooktown, Blacktown and Georgetown as he looked at mining ventures and also worked at some. In Oct. 1884 they were attacked by natives in New Guinea and by the end of 1885 there were plans to sell the 'Wild Duck'. By January 1886 Charlie was in South Africa.

Charlie and his brother George were very close. It was Charlie's intention to make a lot of money to bring back and help ease his parents' lot, and also to help the rest of the family. He and George had worked out who would look after which of the sisters, should anything happen. Charlie always intended to come home, but sadly this wasn't to happen. Charlie was a good correspondent over these years and he wrote home regularly to his mother, and to his younger brother George and these letters, and their replies, have been the source of much family information. Charlie treasured these letters and any photos which were sent to him, and kept them safe. They have remained as treasured possessions in the hands of the South African branch of the family. Copies were given to us in 2003 by Charlie's grand-daughter Margaret.

1896 was the homecoming date mentioned in several letters. After his parents' death in 1894, Charlie no doubt felt a lessening of the goal he had set himself to look after the family. He met Anna Marguerita Johanna SWART and on 28 May 1899 his only child Jim was born in Ladybrand. Anna gave birth in a tent with the Union Jack draped over it as she was determined her child would not be born in Boer territory - the family still have this flag.

Not a lot is known about this period of time in Charlie's life, and there is no mention at all of it in continuing correspondence to NZ. Anna lived in Johannesburg and Charlie was away from home most of the time mining. Anna died of scarlet fever 8 years later. She was found by neighbours, and their son Jimmy in the next room almost dead too. Jimmy was then brought up by these neighbours while Charlie was away working. Charlie didn't tell his NZ family about Jim until 1922 the year before he died in Johannesburg - we don't know why.

His great grand-daughter said:

"Charlie's whole life had an aim to leave home where life was really hard, and money was hard to come by .... in the hopes of making his fortune and returning to NZ to support his family the way he wanted to. He absolutely adored all of his family and so very much wanted to make their lives easier. Charlie left home with a dream. He dreamed this dream for 37 years, and never gave up on it. He never settled down, even when at the age of 50 he married and had a son, Jimmy, he left them alone in Fordsburg S.A. and carried on chasing his life's ambition to succeed. The family he had left behind in NZ never knew he had a family, and they waited and waited for Charlie to come home .... but he never did. ..."

LAURA LOUSISA LAWLOR

1. Laura Louisa Lawlor (16/7/1851 - 1851) Laura was born in Onehunga and died a few months old.

GEORGE JAMES LAWLOR

1. George James Lawlor (28/10/1852 - 4/3/1913) George was born in Onehunga. He moved to Thames with his family in 1867, some two or three months after the gold field broke out. He was aged about 15, and he and his brother Charlie had took out their first Miners Rights that year.

On the 10th May 1872 Volunteer J.G. (sic) Lawlor was enrolled in the 1st Hauraki Rifle Volunteers. He was appointed Captain of the Thames Engineer Cadets in November 1875. On 22nd June 1876 George married Augusta (Gussie) GRAY (19/6/1855 - 19/4/1933). George was aged 23 and Gussie was 21. Gussie was a cousin once-removed of Sir George Grey.

GEORGE AND AUGUSTA LAWLOR

By 1877 George was manager of Perry's Battery, Karaka Creek. The local newspaper gives an account of the inquest into the death of a young man killed by falling rocks at Mr. J. R. Perry's tailings battery - manager Mr. George James Lawlor was on the site that night. In December 1877 George resigned his commission in the Thames Engineer Cadets. In 1878 - 1881 a street directory says George was a mill manager living at Beach Rd Thames. In Jan 1882 he took out shares in the New Prince Imperial G.M. Co. In 1883 he was on the Thames Hospital General Committee.

On the 18 January 1884 George left from Waiorongomai with his brother Charlie on a trip by horseback to see the pink and white terraces. he kept a delightful diary of the trip. This trip was just prior to Charlie leaving New Zealand, and would be the last time he and Charlie would spend time together. They stayed with their sister Nell at Oropi near Tauranga as they travelled both ways.

From May 1884 - January 1885 it appears George travelled to Australia to manage a tin mine for Mr. Perry whose Battery he managed in Thames. His plan was to bring the family over if it was satisfactory, but this apparently wasn't the case. On his return he became an agent for AMP Insurance. In this job he travelled all over the Bay of Plenty and up to the Bay of Islands. He was frequently away, for up to 3 months at a time. In early 1886 he was experiencing hardship, and it sounds as if he and his family were living with his parents.

He says in a letter to Charlie:

"Things are in a deplorable state here, and no immediate appearance of improving. I am just about to start (in about ten days) on N.Z.A. Insurance biz, and will sell Rubber Stamps for Murray & Spencer as well. There is also a chance of my getting the billet of taking the Maori Census, but there is very little money in it. My only chance to get out of debt is to get a steady billet stick to it for a year or two, but it is very difficult to get one.

We have had to take the children away from Miss Humes School and send them to the Kauaeranga Boys School and also have taken Mamie away from Miss Belcher, as we cannot let her go any more at present. Miss Belcher was awfully sorry, for she said Mamie was her best pupil in music and was getting on so fast, she said she would teach her for nothing if we would only let her go, but of course we would not allow her to go on those conditions as she has to make her living by her music. Miss Hume also wanted to teach them for nothing. If the furnace pays I will get about £3/10/0 for 7 days per week, and if I can get up a cheap building for the family to live in we will be able to pull through. .... Father and Mother are quite well and hearty considering that they have us children at home."

In 1887 from August to December he was enrolled as a pupil in the Practical Assaying evening class at the Thames School of Mines.

In 1896 he took out shares in the "Martha Extended G.M. Co." in Waihi. In about 1906-07 he and Gussie moved to Waihi where conditions would have been more buoyant with the boom in mining there. In November 1912 he was foreman of the jury in a high-profile court case. This was an unpleasant situation tied up with the Waihi Miners' Strike and militant Union action. Arthur Doyle was charged with having pointed a revolver. He appeared before Messrs. G. Lawlor and W. H. Toy, Justices of the Peace, and was sentenced to 2 month's imprisonment.

"The sentence was one of the most outrageous ever inflicted in an Australasian Court. Of the two "justices" who dealt with Doyle, G. Lawlor is a local insurance agent, and W. H. Toy is a sharebroker and is also Waihi correspondent for the Auckland 'Herald', a paper whose Waihi reports have always been bitterly opposed to and slanderous of the Union miners."

George died at Waihi, aged 61 and is buried there. His obituary said:

"He was associated with the mining industries in various capacities, including those of amalgamator and mine manager for some years, and about thirty years ago accepted a position as district agent to the Australian Mutual Provident Society, with which institution he continued to be connected until the time of his death. Whilst traveling over the extensive district under his control the deceased made many lifelong friends, and was noted for his business integrity and sterling character. He was undoubtedly one of the most popular and respected of the many insurance representatives employed by the A.M.P."

CHILDREN OF GEORGE AND GUSSIE LAWLOR

George and Gussie had four daughters, one of whom was Charlotte (Bob) Lawlor, who was an artist and poet who contributed to many Australasian newspapers and magazines, and published 3 small volumes of poetry. She worked for an advertising firm in Auckland, and was responsible for the Cremoata advertisement 'Sergeant Dan'.

THEODORE MINET HAULTAIN LAWLOR

1. Theodore Minet Haultain Lawlor (4/10/1854 - 31/1/1924) Theo was born in Latrobe, Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. His family had gone there from New Zealand for a couple of years, presumably to see if conditions were any better. In 1865 aged about 11 years, Theo was sent to "the Old Country" and was educated at the Edinburgh Institution. By the time he returned to NZ in 1871 aged about 17, his family had moved to Thames.

It appears he was active in mining pursuits at the Thames, Tairua and Owharoa areas before entering Government Service as assistant clerk of the Court at Marton in 1880. In 1882 he was appointed clerk of the Resident Magistrate's Court, clerk of the Licensing Committee and vaccination inspector at Picton. By 1886 he was in Wanganui. In April 1888 he was clerk of the Court in Te Aroha, and in July he married Kate Cleave, a well-liked school teacher, in Thames. Two sons were born in Te Aroha. At the end of 1892 he was appointed to Coromandel as clerk of the court and mining registrar. A third son was born here. In March 1896 a newspaper report said Theo was working in South Africa, but he was clerk of the Court in Coromandel in 1897. At some stage he was transferred to Kumera in Westland where his daughter was born, and where he was a lay reader. In 1905 he transferred to Hastings where he was clerk of the Court for many years.

It appears he and Kate separated at some stage. He retired in 1919 and died in 1924 in Napier.

ELEANOR ELIZABETH (NELL) LAWLOR

1. Elinor Elizabeth (Nell) Lawlor (11/11/1856 - 29/3/1927) married Frederick KENSINGTON

They were a well-respected family in the area. Frederick supplied most of the rimu needed for the early houses. He loved his large saws and axes and kept them in perfect order, shining bright. There were quite a number of school age children in Oropi but it was 1899 before a building became available. It was a kauri house belonging to the Kensington family, which had been vacated after the death of Norreys Kensington. It was used as a school until 1903. Frederick played the accordian for the Saturday night old time dances held in the hall. His daughters also played the accordian and the piano. On Oropi Road, almost opposite the Oropi Memorial Hall, lies a parcel of land which was given to the Oropi District for use as a cemetery by the Kensington brothers and an area of this land is reserved for Kensington family members. Nell died in Oropi in 1927.

MARY LOUISA LAWLOR

1. Mary Louisa Lawlor (26/12/1858 - 19/2/1921) married Wynne GRAY

Mary was born in Onehunga. On the 30th August 1877 she married Wynne Charles Stewart Gray, a school teacher, in Thames. He was the brother of George Lawlor's wife Gussie. In 1879 Wynne was a relieving teacher at Tararu School. Two daughters were born, and by 1882 the family appears to have been living in Onehunga. In 1882 a twin son and daughter were born, only to die five days apart, eight months later in Thames. Another son was born and he too died a year later. In 1887 a daughter Daphne Ida was born.

Some time after 1887 Wynne left Mary, taking the two oldest girls who were about seven and nine, leaving Mary with Daphne aged about one. Later he became an accountant and was connected with various racing clubs. He resided at Otahuhu for a number of years, but for the last 33 years he lived at Royal Oak. Mary lived on her own in Khyber Pass, and brought Daphne up by herself. Mary had a real struggle to keep the family going. Her brother George helped her out financially from time to time. Mary died in Auckland in 1921.

FLORA HASTINGS LAWLOR

1. Flora Hastings Lawlor (15/2/1863 - 23/3/1937) married Robert BURRA

Flora was the last of the Lawlor children. She was born in Onehunga just a week before her father left the family for 3 years to take up a position as Resident Magistrate at Coromandel. Her mother decided to remain in Auckland until 3 years later when they joined Henry in Thames. Flora remained at home looking after her parents. Her mother Anne wrote to brother Charlie in South Africa:

"Flora is still my good kind daughter at home I want her to go to Town or to Elinors for a week or two while the summer weather lasts, but cannot get her to leave us, her reason is that she would be in a fidget all the time. We are too old she says to leave. I really think she requires a change at present poor girl oh she is so busy always trying to keep all nice and pretty. You would be pleased to see how very nicely she paints flowers from nature. Fancy, she does not write to you for fear of you having too many Letters to answer seeing I always tell you our home news!"

She looked after them until they died in 1894. Her brothers Charlie and George were ever mindful of her position, and constantly planned with her care in mind.

In 1904 2nd January, Flora married Robert Burra, from England, a widower. Robert was a book, stationery and music seller in Thames. In 1904 they had a daughter, who eventually moved to Australia where her descendants still live. In 1910 her husband Robert died. Flora and daughter Clarice corresponded regularly with Charlie and his son Jim in South Africa after they learned of their existence. Flora was bedridden for some time before her death in Thames in 1937.

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